The Margret Dietz Collection
Margret Dietz was, briefly, a teacher of dance at the College of Saint Benedict. Educated in dance, art, history, philosophy and music, she survived the Nazis, who had forced her to dance for the troops on the Russian front. She eventually came to the U.S., where she taught dance at several colleges and universities, including the University of Minnesota. In the early 1970s she was a choreographer and a popular teacher of summer dance workshops at Saint Ben’s, where she was instrumental in the establishment of the Choreogram dance troupe. While at Saint Ben’s, in the summer of 1972, Margret suffered a heart attack and died suddenly within days; her devoted students were devastated. With the permission of the Sisters, Margret was buried in the Saint Benedict’s Monastery cemetery. Forty years later, three of her former students published a book, Margret Dietz: A Dancer’s Legacy, and donated all of the Dietz research materials, documents, correspondence, and personal effects in their possession, including some costumes designed, sewn, and worn by Margret, to create the Margret Dietz Collection in the CSB Archives. Archival materials from Choreogram have also been added to the collection.
Photo attributed to John R Winckler
Images [under construction]
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